"As I write this, I'm locked into a bitter war with an uncommonly potent cold. The irony of being as mucosal as the everyday gland isn't lost on me while I sit and cogitate on the importance of nomenclature during another play-through of Ravaged Spleen Outburst's debut. Many bands can trace their humble beginnings through a youthful yet indelible moniker, even in the face of unmistakable growth. This is something the one-man Serbian slaughter machine responsible for Ravaged Spleen Outburst likely knows something about." You've got some spleenin' to do.[Give in to your anger...]

"Does anyone still give a shit about zombies? Apparently the creators of the next Resident Evil game are wondering how they’re going to “make zombies scary again,” and that concern is a direct reflection of the cultural over-saturation of zombies that’s occurred in the last decade or so. Thus, when I first saw the name of South African quintet Zombies Ate My Girlfriend, I rolled my eyes so hard I saw my brain. Yet when I actually listened to their 2015 debut Retrocide, I surprisingly didn’t hate it, although their brand of core-informed melodic death metal was still a little rough around the edges. Nonetheless the band’s animated riffing and general craziness made me intrigued and curious to hear what they’d spew out next." Don't squeeze the lizard.[Give in to your anger...]

"With a concept album comes even more pressure than a typical release. Not only should the music be good, but it should seamlessly blend with the story. And it's gotta be convincing. When I listen to King's The Puppetmaster, I can feel myself hanging from a hook at a long-forgotten puppet shop in "Living Dead." I can feel the battle brewing in the barren wasteland of Iced Earth's "Desert Rain." And I can feel the weight hanging on Immortal in Unleash the Archers' "Cleanse the Bloodlines." What's it feel like to make a pact with a demon to obliterate organized religion?" 39 spirits and a Grier ain't one.[Give in to your anger...]

"Of all the adages that exist to roll my eyes to the back of my head, "expect the unexpected" might be the worst. I hate that kind of axiomatically incorrect, cryptic bullshit. But, in a roundabout way, it does hold true. During even the most lean of musical years, a small part of me always perseveres in the hope that, just maybe, an album will come along, entirely off-radar, and take me by surprise. Sometimes, I even wonder if these records exist in abundance in some kind of alternate reality - an Antiverse, if you will." Bizarro metal.[Give in to your anger...]

"Five years since 2013's solid and thrashy Unwelcome, Arsis make a pivotal return with sixth LP, Visitant. With a stable line-up in tow, Malone has masterminded a visceral, energized collection of tunes, set to catapult Arsis back to the top of the American melo-death pile." Back to rule.[Give in to your anger...]

"After five years spent successfully spearheading a successful new political party in Taiwan, Chthonic is back, and no, they do not come bearing gifts of blackened metal. For those of us who were won over by 2013’s Bu-Tik, this is not necessarily bad news. That record, which marked a full transition from peak Cradle of Filth-esque extreme metal to soaring, folk-spliced melodeath, executed the transition with aplomb. Five years on, the latter style remains the status quo, and Battlefields of Asura handles the aesthetic with confidence indicative of half a decade of preparation." Fog of war.[Give in to your anger...]

"Well, this is a band I didn’t expect to see again; I actually didn’t recognize the name until several listens in, having gotten properly into metal after their mid-2000s heyday. These days, Into Eternity are possibly best known as the band from which Iced Earth poached their fifth and current vocalist Stu Block. However, they were always a force to be reckoned with and now they’re back with a vengeance after a decade since their last opus, The Incurable Tragedy." Sing us a song, you're a siren. [Give in to your anger...]

"If you ascribe to the Arrow of Time theory, as AMG Inc. certainly does, you can never look back. Forward, always. A million-promo horde batters constantly at the wall, and only a brave few can stem the tide. So it's the rare album indeed that subverts the laws of nature and demands you look backward. The Return is just such a prize." Withstand the folk of time.[Give in to your anger...]

"I wasn't all that impressed with 2016s Grey Heavens. To my ears it felt flat and a bit boring, and the inclusion of a more stripped down modern sound didn't feel like it fit the band's tried-and-true formula. Naturally this led me to approach The Burning Cold with some trepidation, hoping for a return to form but bracing for diminishing returns. So which will it be for this Finnish melo-death institution? Newfound glory or further decline?" It's very cold in sadboy world. [Give in to your anger...]

"Bands like Hypocrisy and Dark Tranquillity were like gateway drugs for me. I remember getting heavy into the style about a decade ago and then it seemed to run its course. And, as most of my favorite bands carry on with run-of-the-mill material, while others—like Soilwork, Arch Enemy, and In Flames—continue to bore me to fucking death, it's become even more clear that I've fallen away from the genre. So, in hopes of rekindling some of those flames, I grabbed Parasite Inc.'s Dead and Alive. What the hell was I thinking?" The Doc has worms. [Give in to your anger...]